Station 9

Jesus speaks to the women

Luke 23:27-31

A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and waited for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, “Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!” Then “’they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

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Think of the person closest to you in your life. Think of your times spent together—times of laughter, times of tears, times of celebration, and times of celebration. This person is suddenly killed in a car accident and you are prohibited from attending any sort of memorial or funeral service. Those around you are insistent that you cannot grieve his/her loss. You shall not shed a tear. You shall not say a prayer. You are not to mourn him/her. Period. You may not see him/her one last time. You will not say goodbye.

You are told instead that there will be things in the future for which you will grieve. Focus your attention on them. There will be tragedy and devastation, heartache and loss. Mourn for those things. Save you tears for another day.

But today your grief and loss, fear and anger are not for those things that have yet to happen. They are not for future things. They are for your loved one. The one you miss today. The one you cannot be with at this moment. And still you are told not to grieve, not to cry, not to lament.

Why Lord?

Why?

Why would you make such prohibitions?

How could you be so heartless?